We organise conventions corresponding to the topics of the EU Youth Agenda where participants learn about the functioning of the EU and discuss how to become active in society. As a result of each convention, participants draft recommendations and discuss them with politicians.
The following results will be brought to our final conference in April 2019, which will happen in Torino, Italy. Together with other NGOs and participants from all over the continent, we will gather all recommendations from all Conventions into one Youth Agenda for Europe.
During the last election period for the European Parliament, the participation of youth was disappointingly low. Only around 28% of young people went to the ballot boxes and made their voices heard through the casting of a vote.
Health and well-being have a direct and very visible impact on everyday life. It became visible during the Convention on Health & Well-Being, that especially Mental Health is not yet enough in the focus of policies and talked about in societies. The various existing policy measures concerning health were discussed and it was made clear that the EU already tackles many issues such as tobacco or nutrition. Still, the discussions underlined that there are many health issues to solve still, such as obesity or cardiovascular diseases.
Human Rights issues are not easy to tackle and there are many different areas to talk about. During the convention, the participants gained insights into various of these areas, to become aware of how many discussions and problems there are in Europe when it comes to Human Rights. Most dominant were discussions about the situation in Hungary and Poland, the Rule of Law, the situation with migrants in Europe, women’s rights, as well as Equal Rights, but also Human Rights how the EU can and should react to Human Rights violations outside of its borders.
“United in diversity” is the motto of the EU. It еmbodies the importance of the different cultures and people within the Union. And social inclusion has always been a core value for the European identity. Social inclusion is a broad issue that collocates various topics on the continent like gender equality, acceptance of the LGBTQI+ community, accessibility to disabled people. Unfortunately, a significant group of young people in Europe is part of the NEETs (young people not in employment, education or training) group. The youth in Europe needs to be better included in society regardless of their social, economic or political background.
Participation in Civil Society is a topic which is hard to pin down to just one aspect. With so many constant changes to the structure of our different societies, the Youth needs to be able and enabled, to participate actively within them. Thus of course the Youth must not wait for the world to change on its own. As a young generation it lays in our responsibility to shape the world and society of tomorrow.
Education and training in Europe have long been a matter for discussion. Even though the nations have various systems in place, there are common strands that they all follow. In this continuously changing world the education systems are taking too long to change and adapt to the skills and knowledge required by both students and teachers. Only a few existing programmes are well known and they need to be significantly improved. We would like to see the European Union supporting its member states in preparing their educational systems for a future world that will rely on educators and those pupils to be prepared.
While creativity enriches our lives, culture builds the basis of a society. Through cultural exchanges, citizens get to know each other better in Europe. As youth we are concerned about the status of creativity and culture in political decisions, especially when young people are affected. We see the need for a better cultural education and to make culture more accessible and interesting for young people. For young professionals in the cultural and creative sector it is really hard to establish trust in their abilities and to build up a career, due to a lack of support and appreciation by societies for people trying to make a living in the field. Further, we see a lack of media cooperation to present the different cultures in Europe, which would help to create dialogues and foster European integration through mutual understanding in the long run.
Youth Employment rates differ greatly among the EU countries. As members of AEGEE we are concerned about the future of young people regarding their employment. Young people are living in a fast changing world which influences their employability, not only affecting individuals but also society and Europe as a whole. In a changing world, 21st century skills and entrepreneurship will become more and more important. Existing initiatives and programs which aim to promote and increase employment and entrepreneurship are not very well-known. We see the need of the EU to take action to further promote employment and entrepreneurship and to prepare young people for their future in the labour market or as an entrepreneur.